--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In a faraway land called 'pre-2000,' what…" description: "\"In a faraway land called 'pre-2000,' what Earthlings now call blogging was called 'keeping a diary.' It's hard work to do well. I tried doing it in the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f17/douglas-coupland-305_anecdotes_in-a-faraway-land-called-pre-2000-what-e_1356823.jpg" --- # In a faraway land called 'pre-2000,' what Earthlings now… ![“In a faraway land called 'pre-2000,' what Earthlings now call blogging was called 'keeping a diary.' It's hard work to do well. I tried doing it in the early 1990s but had to stop because I no longer had a life - instead I had this thing that generated anecdotes to go into my diary. The diary took…” quote by Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f17/douglas-coupland-305_anecdotes_in-a-faraway-land-called-pre-2000-what-e_1356823.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f17/douglas-coupland-305_anecdotes_in-a-faraway-land-called-pre-2000-what-e_1356823.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f17/douglas-coupland-305_anecdotes_in-a-faraway-land-called-pre-2000-what-e_1356823.jpg) > “In a faraway land called 'pre-2000,' what Earthlings now call blogging was called 'keeping a diary.' It's hard work to do well. I tried doing it in the early 1990s but had to stop because I no longer had a life - instead I had this thing that generated anecdotes to go into my diary. The diary took over and I had to stop.” [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Early blogging resembled personal diary keeping, demanding discipline and life balance. **In simple terms:** Blogging is like diary writing, hard work. Key Takeaway Treat blogging as disciplined journaling. Themes digital media personal expression discipline Mood introspective thoughtful Type essay reflective When to use this quote - personal blogging - content creation - online journaling Key Concepts blogging evolution digital diaries creative burnout Questions to Reflect On - What drives you to write online? - How can you maintain life balance while blogging? A Different Perspective The medium changes, but personal reflection remains key. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anecdotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anecdotes/) [Because](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/because/) [Blogging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blogging/) [Blogging Called](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blogging-called-4631738/) [Call](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/call/) [Diary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diary/) [Diary Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diary-hard-4631741/) [Diary Took](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diary-took-4631740/) [Doing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing/) [Early](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/early/) [Early 1990s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/early-1990s/) [Earthlings Blogging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earthlings-blogging-4631739/) [Faraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faraway/) [Go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/go/) [Had](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/had/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Hard work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-work/) [I tried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-tried/) [Instead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instead/) [Keeping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keeping/) [Keeping Diary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keeping-diary-1049985/) [Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Longer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longer/) [Now](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/now/) [Over](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/over/) [Stop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stop/) [Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing/) [Took](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/took/) [Tried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tried/) [Well](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/well/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [“I tried keeping a diary once. Not chronological, of course. But the trouble with time travel is, one never seems to find the time.’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-tried-keeping-a-diary-once-not-chronological-of-course-but-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are many reasons for keeping a diary: to make a note of facts that one considers important; to open one's heart, to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/there-are-many-reasons-for-keeping-a-diary-to-make-a-note-of-facts/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [Billy Pilgrim had a theory about diaries. Women were more likely than men to think that their lives had sufficient meaning to require recording…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/billy-pilgrim-had-a-theory-about-diaries-women-were-more-likely-than/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/painting-is-just-another-way-of-keeping-a-diary/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [I think that is the big danger in keeping a diary: you exaggerate everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-think-that-is-the-big-danger-in-keeping-a-diary-you-exaggerate/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [I am thinking of keeping a diary, not with the intend to publish it, merely to record the facts for the information of God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-szilard/i-am-thinking-of-keeping-a-diary-not-with-the-intend-to-publish-it/) [Leo Szilard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-szilard/) > [It's not easy keeping a diary. You have to be pretty committed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/it-s-not-easy-keeping-a-diary-you-have-to-be-pretty-committed/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [“I recommend keeping a diary. Diaries are cool.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-wallace/i-recommend-keeping-a-diary-diaries-are-cool/) [Danny Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-wallace/) > [Keeping a diary is like closing your bedroom door and refusing to come out until dinnertime: it is a declaration of self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-flanagan/keeping-a-diary-is-like-closing-your-bedroom-door-and-refusing-to/) [Caitlin Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-flanagan/) > [I'm so old that when I started keeping a diary they were in actual books, and I think that's one the reasons that I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/i-m-so-old-that-when-i-started-keeping-a-diary-they-were-in-actual/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [Keeping a Diary all my life helped me to discover some basic elements essential to the vitality of writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/keeping-a-diary-all-my-life-helped-me-to-discover-some-basic-elements/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [One advantage in keeping a diary is that you become aware with reassuring clarity of the changes which you constantly suffer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/one-advantage-in-keeping-a-diary-is-that-you-become-aware-with/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“Before our vacation, the idea of keeping a diary and scribbling my thoughts on paper seemed silly and stuck-up. And besides it was usually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-h-roth/before-our-vacation-the-idea-of-keeping-a-diary-and-scribbling-my/) [Henry H. Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-h-roth/) > [Keeping a diary supports personal development.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-sagmeister/keeping-a-diary-supports-personal-development/) [Stefan Sagmeister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-sagmeister/) > [I've been keeping a diary for thirty-three years and write in it every morning. Most of it's just whining, but every so often there'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/i-ve-been-keeping-a-diary-for-thirty-three-years-and-write-in-it/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) ## More by Douglas Coupland > [And in your new lives you'll have to live entirely for that one sensation-that of imminent truth. And you're going to have to holler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/and-in-your-new-lives-you-ll-have-to-live-entirely-for-that-one/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [A man in a bookstore buys a book on loneliness and every woman in the store hits on him. A woman buys a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/a-man-in-a-bookstore-buys-a-book-on-loneliness-and-every-woman-in-the/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [The future and eternity are two entirely different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/the-future-and-eternity-are-two-entirely-different-things/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Do you remember how you felt at seventeen? I do and I don't (...) Imagine you came from outer space and someone showed you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/do-you-remember-how-you-felt-at-seventeen-i-do-and-i-don-t-imagine/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [You can't fake competence, creativity, or sexual arousal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/you-can-t-fake-competence-creativity-or-sexual-arousal/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“But Dag, for all of his efforts, might as well have been talking to a cat. Our parents’ generation seems neither able nor interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/but-dag-for-all-of-his-efforts-might-as-well-have-been-talking-to-a/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Negative? Moi? I think realistic might be a better word. You mean to tell me we can drive all the way here from L.A.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/negative-moi-i-think-realistic-might-be-a-better-word-you-mean-to/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [It was pivotal in making you but you don't remember it. Or do you? Do we understand the events that make us who we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/it-was-pivotal-in-making-you-but-you-don-t-remember-it-or-do-you-do/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Your ability to rationalize your own bad deeds makes you believe that the whole world is as amoral as you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/your-ability-to-rationalize-your-own-bad-deeds-makes-you-believe-that/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“I like to go beach-combing, and I like to find interestingly shaped rocks. When I really get into the groove I start finding beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/i-like-to-go-beach-combing-and-i-like-to-find-interestingly-shaped/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“You know, Dag and Claire smile a lot, as do many people I know. But I always wondered if there is something either mechanical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/you-know-dag-and-claire-smile-a-lot-as-do-many-people-i-know-but-i/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Brain research tells us that only twenty percent of human beings have a sense of irony, which means that eighty percent of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/brain-research-tells-us-that-only-twenty-percent-of-human-beings-have/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [I keep vampire hours, going to bed at 2 A.M. and waking up at about 10:30-11 A.M.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/i-keep-vampire-hours-going-to-bed-at-2-a-m-and-waking-up-at-about-10/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“Anna-Louise leans over and whispers in my ear. "This is so surreal," she says, "I think I'm turning into a melting clock.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/anna-louise-leans-over-and-whispers-in-my-ear-this-is-so-surreal-she/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [When you grow up these days, you're told you're going to have four or five different careers during your lifetime. But what they don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/when-you-grow-up-these-days-you-re-told-you-re-going-to-have-four-or/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) [Explore all 704 Douglas Coupland quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) ## More Anecdotes quotes > [“There was a skill to organizing your life into neatly bundled anecdotes, and he lacked it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-sakey/there-was-a-skill-to-organizing-your-life-into-neatly-bundled/) [Marcus Sakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-sakey/) > [Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/art-to-me-is-an-anecdote-of-the-spirit/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [There comes a point where certain things are becoming my Achilles heel; you know when you start repeating yourself and saying the same anecdotes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-elson/there-comes-a-point-where-certain-things-are-becoming-my-achilles/) [Karen Elson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-elson/) > [Why should I ever get fed up talking about my father? He was a brilliant, colorful man who left us with thousands of memories.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-huston/why-should-i-ever-get-fed-up-talking-about-my-father-he-was-a/) [Danny Huston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-huston/) > [If you would stick to the concrete, and put your discoveries in the form of entertaining anecdotes about your adventures with women, your conversation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/if-you-would-stick-to-the-concrete-and-put-your-discoveries-in-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Painters were also attorneys, happy storytellers of anecdote, psychologists, botanists, zoologists, archaeologists, engineers, but there were no creative painters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazimir-malevich/painters-were-also-attorneys-happy-storytellers-of-anecdote/) [Kazimir Malevich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazimir-malevich/) > [Art isn't anecdote. It's the consciousness we bring to bear in our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/art-isn-t-anecdote-it-s-the-consciousness-we-bring-to-bear-in-our/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [Something about the possession of a book - an object that can contain infinite fables, words of wisdom, chronicles of times gone by, humorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/something-about-the-possession-of-a-book-an-object-that-can-contain/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Men grind and grind in the mill of a truism, and nothing comes out but what was put in. But the moment they desert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/men-grind-and-grind-in-the-mill-of-a-truism-and-nothing-comes-out-but/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Anecdote: The extent of Michael Jackson's fame at its height, and his eagerness to exploit it is shown by an incident in 1984 when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/anecdote-the-extent-of-michael-jackson-s-fame-at-its-height-and-his/) [Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/) > [I don't have a lot of thrilling anecdotes about my career or personal life. All the stuff that is interesting is private and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-merchant/i-don-t-have-a-lot-of-thrilling-anecdotes-about-my-career-or-personal/) [Natalie Merchant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-merchant/) > [Life divides into amazing enjoyable times and appalling experiences that will make future amazing anecdotes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-moran/life-divides-into-amazing-enjoyable-times-and-appalling-experiences/) [Caitlin Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-moran/) > [I write and write and write, and then I edit it down to the parts that I think are amusing, or that help the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-yankovic/i-write-and-write-and-write-and-then-i-edit-it-down-to-the-parts-that/) [Al Yankovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-yankovic/) > [If you notice phrases, ideas, and anecdotes that closely resemble those that appear elsewhere in my writing, it's not a matter of sloppy editing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fulghum/if-you-notice-phrases-ideas-and-anecdotes-that-closely-resemble-those/) [Robert Fulghum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fulghum/) > [At the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre, Sanford Meisner said, 'When you go into the professional world, at a stock theatre somewhere, backstage, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/at-the-neighborhood-playhouse-school-of-theatre-sanford-meisner-said/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) [Browse all 180 Anecdotes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anecdotes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In a faraway land called 'pre-2000,' what Earthlings now call blogging was called 'keeping a diary.' 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